LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant John Richard HOSKINS
Service No: 403587
Born: Sydney NSW, 4 June 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 3 February 1941
Unit: No. 59 Squadron (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 59 Squadron Hudson aircraft AM639), off Spurn Point, Yorkshire, 28 April 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: North Cotes (St Nicholas) Churchyard
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harold Vincent and Gladys Muriel Hoskins, of Wollstonecraft, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Killara NSW
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Knox Grammar School Old Boys’ War Memorial, Wahroonga NSW
During flying training on 28 April 1942 using the hulk of the Steam Ship Birmingham 8 km off Spurn Point as the target, the wingtip of Hudson AM639 struck the sea during a low level manoeuvre and the aircraft crashed, killing the four crew members.
The crew members of AM639 were:
Sergeant John Richard Hoskins (403587) (Navigator)
Sergeant Eric Stanley Normore (798538) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Henry Francis Neary (798535) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Dermont Vigors Thesiger (903497) (RAFVR) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9301, 403587
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Website: LostAircraft.com